Kate, the last to arrive at our regular table in the bar was
muttering.

Chris, our newest member did not know that asking her what
was bothering her was not a good idea.

Rob tried to stop him but she exploded,” I’m sick of the
lone wolf great salesman bull! Not only is it demeaning it is totally 180
degrees out of sync with reality.”

The entire place got quiet, not just our table.

Rob finally drawled, “We understand some polecat put a stink
on you sweetheart but just what did he do?”

“I’ve been working for months to get a sales team for one of
my clients to function at a higher level than they’ve ever known before. Each
of them by themselves are talented but together they are becoming formidable. When
the two of them walk into a conference together to pitch they get the business over
80% of the time. They get the business because they know they can…together.”

“What happened?” I asked.

Kate grimaced and said, “The sales manager couldn’t stand
the fact that they were closing four times as much business as he was so he
told them to sit back and watch a pro in action. He told them he didn’t like
them wasting two peoples time when it only takes one to close. He blew the
biggest contract those two youngsters and the company had lined up this year
with his macho lone wolf approach!

Ever time I hear a salesperson talk about being up close and
personal with a prospect and the only one who could be expected to make the
sale I want to get the twit up close and personal with a real pack of wolves.

This fool grew up in the city. He believes wolves hunt alone.

They don’t. They hunt in packs. Teamwork is what makes them
deadly. A lone wolf will steer clear of a grizzly but a pack turns the tales
and the grizzly will give them a wide berth.”

Rick leaned over and whispered to me, “That lone wolf just
made a mistake. He’s messin’ with Mama bear.”

Kate went on, “I’m sorry I can’t stay. I’ve asked the CEO to
have lunch with me. I’m resigning his account.” And with that she stomped away.

Rob leaned back ans said, “Whew! Our hummin’ bird just morphed
into a hornet.”

Rick said, I’ve never heard her put it quite that way before
but she always says that if you give her youngsters that aren’t being fed all
that macho bull that she will beat the cowboy lone wolf act every time. She’s
told me that any kind of professional service business from accounting to high
tech is better served by team selling and proved it by showing me the results. The
thing she says is that most folks can’t master all the skills and the special
industry or technology knowledge when they are young so teams are always
stronger. As they age, the more experienced can be teamed with the younger
ones. Then you truly have a pack and they are deadlier than any lone wolf.”

Chris summed up, “So if you want to build a killer sales
force start with a pack mentality and put together people with collaborative
skills. Tell the lone wolves to take a hike.”

Do you think packs or lone wolves make for a killer sales
force?

Jerry Fletcher has worked with lone wolves, packs and
newbies. He defers to Kate for sales training but says the way to a
salespersons heart is great leads.

Learn about that process at www.JerryFletcher.com

Networking Ninja Jerry speaks about how to connect, turn
contacts into contracts and generate non-stop referrals. More at: www.NetworkingNinja.com  

“I agree with you Chris,” I said “But the same rules apply
on and offline. Success of any business can be determined by the numbers. And
the better you know the numbers the better off you’re going to be.”

“Fletch, he said, the numbers are different on line. You
need bigger numbers just to make a dent.”

“True,” I snarled. “That’s because everything is at arm’s
length.”

“Boys,” Kate said, ‘Play nice. Instead of acting like two
skunks in a spraying match let’s put some numbers on the table and compare,
okay?” With that she unfolded a paper napkin and put three columns on it headed
Chris, Number and Fletch.

“Chris, if you are selling on line what are the key
numbers?”

“Visitors, click thrus and conversions/purchases. We gather other
stuff as well like pages examined and cart abandonment and restarts but those
are the biggies,“ Chris responded. I average between 20 and 30% of the visitors
clicking through.

“Okay, Fletch what about you?”

“I look at contacts, meetings and contracts as the
primaries. I do a lot of networking as you know but I’ve honed it to the point
that I seldom leave a gathering of 40 to 50 people without having one or two folks
I need to follow up with. I’ll spend an hour with them and know whether to try
to make them a client. I close over 50% of those I pursue.”

“So,” Kate continued, “Each of you start with a pool of
possibles. Chris let’s them self select, while Fletch winnows out a few for
further discussion. Agree? Then both of you have to convince them to buy and
that gets us to the real number that is important. Each of you have a monthly
number that you have to hit to pay the staff and pay the rent, the taxes and
keep the lights on. So let’s say that each of you has the same monthly number
and for comparison purposes let’s make it 10 Grand.”

Both Chris and Fletch nodded their assent.

“Chris, how many clients at your average income per client
would it take to make $10,000?” Kate asked.

He replied, “Ten at about $1000 each.”

“What percentage do you close of those that click through?” She continued.

“Truthfully, about 20% on the first visit,” Chris said
quietly.

Kate swung to Fletch “Same questions,” she said.

“Average client income and number is the same.” I answered.
“But I close about 50% on the first sit down then add another 30% on second and
third visits. I closed you on a third visit as I recall.”

Kate, unflappable as usual continued. “So, if you two
actually know what your close ratios are the sales math for you on a monthly
basis looks like this.

Chris (on line)                 Number                                  Fletch (In person)

10                          Customers
per month                           10

20%                       Close
ratio                                             50%

50                          Click
Thrus vs Sit downs                        20

25%                       Percentage
of visitors/possibles            10%   

200                        Visitors/
Possibles required                    200

Both of you need to get to the same number of people to make
it work. The only real difference is how you do it.”

So the question of the day is: How can on line and in person
working together make it easier for each other?”

Jerry Fletcher understands how the synergy of on and off line
marketing can build a business. Visit www.JerryFletcher
to learn more.

Need a speaker that can make this kind of
hard-nosed marketing part of a meeting or convention? Visit www.NetworkingNinja.com to learn more,

“Like I said,” Rob drawled, “Y’all know that being able to
spin a good yarn stickin’ to the truth without gettin’ tangled up in the
details is how you get the dogs out from under the porch.”

“Fletch,” Kate asked, “Can you translate that?”

“Sure,” I said, “Rob’s idea of being a brilliant
conversationalist is being the center of attention. For him, that works. For
the really good networker there’s another way.”

“Oh?” Kate said.

“Yes,” I responded

The table went quiet. They were all looking at me.

I said, “Tell ‘em, Kate.”

Kate explained, “It’s a technique I came across in some
sales training done by Xerox in the 90s, I think. What you do is:

1. Ask an
   open ended question, one that can’t be answered with just a word or two.
2. Shut
   up and listen.
3. When
   they run down simply say Oh?”

“Oh? “ I said.

She went on, “They will keep adding information just about
as long as you are wiling to listen. The trick is to get them started.”

Rick dove in, “And the most common question in our culture
is what do you do?”

“Give the man a gold star,” said Kate. “Anyone else have a
question that works?”

Rick, our inveterate traveler, said, “I’ve got another
one—If you could visit any place in the world, where would you go?”

“That works,” said Kate, “If you remember to say Oh?”

Gail piped up, “If you could have any technology to help you
run our business, what would it be?”

“Sure,” said Kate. “Again, remember when they run down to
say Oh?”

What question would you ask?

Jerry Fletcher provides this kind of proven marketing advice
to all his clients from across kitchen tables to corporate board rooms. See his
answer to “What do you  do” in the video
on the home page of: www.JerryFletcher.com

Jerry Fletcher Speaks on 30 Second Marketing, How to develop an unforgettable self
introduction. See his story about Margie at www.NetworkingNinja.com

“Some companies take off like a rocket while others fizzle
on the launch pad,” I said as we assembled for the weekly nosh and natter.

“I suppose you’re going to tell us why,” Rick suggested.

Gail anted with, “Nope. He would rather let us thrash
around trying to catch up with something he’s been thinking about for a week,
right Fletch?”

“True,” I said, I have been thinking about the question but
a lot longer than a week.”

“So,” Rob said.

Kate gave me that over the glasses look and said, “Get on
with it.”

“All of us have worked with new companies at one time or
another,” I started. “Some have been successful and others haven’t. The
successful ones, to me, have been a little bit of a mystery in some cases but
pretty obvious in others.

For instance, the ones I’ve known were going to be
successful had these things in common:

A good idea that meets a user need in a new way that is an
improvement over the old way.

Taking an incremental approach—doing one thing at a time—not
having to accomplish one huge task to be successful.

Better knowledge or more complete research into the market.
Successful entrepreneurs don’t see themselves as taking risks rather they can’t
understand why others don’t see the opportunity!”

Kate, our sales expert interrupted, “Let’s go back to that
first one. You left out a critical element. It has to be what the buyer
prefers.”

“She’s right,” said Chris. 
And if it is an online business you can find out real quick what is
preferred.”

“And tweak it,” said Rick. The companies I’ve worked with
used the incremental approach to direct marketing I helped develop on top of
their own sort of engineering driven step-by-step approach to make it.”

Gail said, “My experience is that you have to have an entrepreneurial
oriented leader in the equation, preferably one that can be very persuasive. If
that person, guy or gal is inside a company they have to convince the powers
that be to give them the time and resources to bring the idea to life. If they
are on their own, it is all about the money. And they have to be just as
persuasive…only more frequently.”

Rob summarized, So you need to be risk aversive, sort of
innovative and willing to get to success step-by-step. Right?

What would you add?

Jerry Fletcher stopped counting successful new product introductions at 207 Learn more at www.JerryFletcher.com

See Jerry speak. Check out the Jerry Fletcher channel on YouTube

I was having coffee with Les who is an extremely successful
technology entrepreneur who casually observed, “You can’t build a relationship
with your thumbs.”

When a guy that talks about structuring his family
foundation like the Vanderbilts in one breath says something like that in the
next I pay attention.

“So what’s the rest of the story,” Kate asked.

“He has been quietly courting me to provide marketing advice
because he wants to build his cloud based business sufficiently to sell it in
about five years and pursue a couple of other ideas he has. He got into cloud
based services before it became a big company fad and now he can see the event
horizon for a few new things.”

Bob groaned and said, “The thumb thing, Fletch”

“He told me that one of his kids is in the Y generation as
are a number of the technicians he employees. They were having a beer
the other night and a couple of the guys started teasing one of their coworkers
for texting in the middle of a beer fest with the boss.”

Les told me “One of them asked another whether anything ever
came of texting like that. He asked if that is how he planned on building a
business of his own or finding the right girl. The youngster answered that it was
a way to keep in touch with his friends but didn’t seem to work for finding
partners of any kind.”

Les ordered another pitcher and listened. That’s when he
heard the thumbs line.”

He told me about his experience working for others and
having ideas he just knew could be profitable but not being able to even talk
to the people running the company. So he went off on his own. And he never
stopped looking for people he could partner with. He said the secret of his
success was taking his time to get to know people and doing it face to face.

His take on where the computerized world is headed is like
science fiction but he has made a fortune betting on his intuition in terms of
technology and people.

It’s nice to meet someone that has become extremely successful
using techniques I’ve been speaking on for years and compare notes.

Les agreed that the key to being successful at just about
anything is based on who trusts you.

How do you get to Trust?

Jerry Fletcher is a master of Networking who can help you build
your business. launch a new product or make it more saleable. www.JerryFletcher.com

Hear Jerry Speak. Schedule him for your group. Learn more at
his speaking web site: www.NetworkingNinja.com

“So I did a search and all these ads for hotshot designers
came up,’ I said. “They equate a logotype with a brand. Has the world gone mad?”

Bob took a sip of his draft and just chortled. “Ol son,” he
said with a tiny twang, “Hope springs eternal. The good lord set the task of
namin’ things to them as was in the garden and we been tryin’ to do right by
him ever since. Those youngins just don’t understand that a brand is about
reputation as much as anythin’ else.”

Kate looked over her glasses at him, harrumphed and said, “Reputation
is only part of it. It starts with a name, one people can remember and with
products or services they want to buy…maybe. But if you treat them badly, if your
sales people don’t listen and help them you won’t get a chance to have a reputation.”

Chris added, and it doesn’t make a bit of difference if it
is on line or brick and mortar. Every time we run a test the biggest jump in
conversions comes from making it easy to get the information they want in the way
they want to get it depending on where they are in the sales cycle. In some
cases we know they want to talk to somebody that is knowledgeable. And there,
even if you don’t get the sale, you need to be helpful because they don’t
forget.”

Gail kicked me under the table and said, “Fletch, aren’t you
going to say anything about positioning?”

“Okay,’” In my view it all starts with knowing everything you
can about possible customers and deciding what your mission is going to be with
regard to those customers. Your mission is a touchstone for you and the people
that work with you to deliver the product or service. The unique way you
present that product or service to prospects, and the world for that matter, is
your position. If you adhere to those two things, especially if they are in
sync, you will build trust.

Trust is at the core of what you offer a potential customer.
It is wrapped round by the product, the price, the passage or distribution
methods you choose and then wrapped in a name. Yes, people remember the name
and the logotype for it. They can remember a personality and associate a
lifestyle with that name.

Brand is not something you decide. It is the sum
total of what customers, prospects and others come to believe about you. Your brand
is what they think not what you would like it to be.”

Bob, began clapping and said, “You’re mamma raised no dumb
children ol son. My job for most of my days has been trying to get clients to
understand what their brand really is. You just said a mouthful and the most
important part is that Trust is at the core. Everything I do in the way of
promotion is to build and maintain that trust.

Jerry is considered a master of Positioning see examples at his consultng web site: www.JerryFletcher.com

class=”MsoNormal”>Jerry speaks on Trust based marketing. Learn more at his speaking web site: www.NetworkingNinja.com

“Here’s an article about the value of brands I clipped from
the New York Times,” I said as they arrived. “It’s all about the rank of the
top brands in the world. But if you’re not publicly held, how do you figure out
your brands worth?”

“Why y’all lookin’ at me,” Bob said.

“Sweetie,” Kate said, You’re the brand guru in this bunch. Spit
it out.”

He glanced at the article and replied, “That’s the annual
review from Interbrand, what they call their Best Global Brands Report. They estimate
the value of each brand in dollars. There’s a financial analysis, a percentage
score for the role of the brand in its market place and a loyalty score. They stir
all that round, crunch the numbers and  as my granny used to say, the cream rises.

It is a formula-based number that is supposed to tell you how much
investors trust the stock. If you run a privately held company you aren’t
included in their assessment.

Little guys have to find another way.”

Chris said, “I’ve got one. A while back one of my clients
was asked to sell his URL. He had paid under a hundred bucks for it. After the
negotiations it sold for thousands.”

Kate said, I can add to that. There was an old wooden
cabinet kind of radio company that went out of business but the folks that
owned it kept up the trademark on the name. They sold it for over $200,000 as I
recall 25 or 30 years after they went out of business. The name came back on a
line of computers. I actually had one.”

Bob asked, Didn’t you tell me ‘bout some research that kinda
gave a value, Fletch?”

“I think you mean the satisfaction studies I include when I’m
speaking about Marketing Without Money TM. What those boil down to is that you don’t
have a brand until you get to about 4.5 on a five point satisfaction scale. That’s
when people will recommend your product or service. At 4.6 they will repeat a
purchase. A 4.8 they will wait for you to introduce a product or service even
if a competitor already has one. Over five they are raving fans and the best sales
people you will ever have.”

Rick said, And if you know how many of them feel that way
and what their life time value (LTV) is you can calculate exactly what they are
worth to you. One company I know has a definable market of 15 Million people. If
they can get just one half of one percent of them to buy a subscription they
could clear over $22 Million. And that’s just in the first year.

How would you tell a little guy to value a brand?

Jerry Fletcher adds brand value through Positioning, product
development and the power of promotion on and off-line www.JerryFletcher.com

Jerry Speaks to corporate and association audiences
that are changing the way business is being done on three continents www.NetworkingNinja.com

“I think I hit a nerve,” I said, when I wrote about Kate’s
agreement adventures with a young designer.”

“What happened bre’r rabbit?” asked Bob.

“My phone and e-mail lit up with comments. You all know I’ve
worked with a number of attorneys…well a couple of them checked in along with
some management consultants, coaches and professional speakers…any way the most
outspoken members of the tribe.

Jim, an attorney, friend and former client said:

“Here are
two contrarian thoughts about the last sentence in the post:

1. Any agreement to provide
services in exchange for money is a contract. Regardless of the label, putting
the deal in writing allows the parties to clearly state mutual expectations and
responsibilities up front.

2. The shorter a contract, the more
you need to make sure that it contains all essential terms, so don’t overlook
the value of having an attorney draft or review even one-page documents.”

Gail said, ”Nice to see he picked up on the same thing I
did.”

“Meaning what?” Rick asked.

“Meaning that if it is important to the customer, then put
it in. If it isn’t leave it out.”

Rick replied, “Yes. That is why you do proposals so that you
can get all the mutual expectations and responsibilities on the table up front,
discuss them and put the ones you agree on in an agreement or like Fletch’s
friendly lawyer says, the contract.”

“It’s a process,” Bob said. Young’uns just don’t get it.
Tain’t their fault. Nobody ever shows you how to make grits you make a mess of
it ‘til you learn how. They go to school to learn a skill but nobody teaches
‘em how to run a business using that skill. They don’ know they need to
understand bookkeeping and marketing and how to turn a contact into a
contract. Trouble is they don’t get to trust before they start puttin’ boilerplate nonsense on paper. ”

“Fletch, didn’t you write a program called How to Turn Contacts into Contracts” asked Kate.

“Yes, I did. That program looks at how to ask the questions
that need to be asked by the service provider and how to determine what is
important to the prospect. But I think Rick and Bob really got at the heart of the
matter.

Youngsters are so eager and hungry they just want the deal signed rather than making sure everyone is on the same page. They forget that every relationship, short or long term, begins with trust.

How do we fix that?

Jerry Fletcher is an expert at business development. Learn more at www.JerryFletcher.com

Jerry provides trust-based marketing programs on three continents Video of signature stories at www.Networking Ninja.com

Kate arrived late, fuming.

I bit the bullet and asked, “What’s the problem?”

She poured a glass of wine from the bottle Bob had ordered
and sputtered, “How do you guys deal with freelancers all the time? More
importantly where are they getting these ridiculous ideas about who owns the
work you pay them for?”

“Fletch,” she said, “Don’t you dare try to sneak off!”

I slipped back into my chair and said, “Okay what ticked you
off?…no names please.”

“So when I asked this young designer for a project proposal
he came back with heavy dictation of dates and times for me to meet his
schedule and some garbage written by an attorney that makes me liable for
anything that goes wrong even if it his fault and no out clause!”

Bob refilled her glass and said, “Y’all don’t deal with
photographers much do you? You see, the lens men and women have been pulling
that in the Ad biz for a while now. There’s only one way round it and thas to
tell ‘em right up front that dog won’t hunt. It sounds to me like this young
whelp is a tad confused about the difference between a proposal and an
agreement.”

“The two are completely different,” said Gail. A proposal
spells out what you will do to help a client or prospect solve a problem. It
can include a time line but doesn’t have to. The agreement on the other hand
needs to include what you have agreed to do and when. It should have a specific
statement in it with regard to either party being able to quit the relationship
to include notification and how payment for the work to date will be handled.”

“The problem,” I put in, “Is that no one teaches new
freelancers or starting consultants or other entrepreneurs that render a
service how to cope with this stuff. What I usually tell them is this:

A proposal

• Tells the prospect what you are going to do to
  solve the problem at hand.
• It can but is not required to include how you
  will get to that solution
• It can include a statement of when items will be
  delivered… a timeline.
• On occasion it may say where the work will be
  done like when a computer technician makes house calls
• And once in a while you might say who will
  perform the service

An Agreement

• Defines the objectives the parties involved have
  mutually agreed to
• Provides a specific time frame for the actions
• Spells out the fees to be paid to the service
  provider to include the timing of those payments
• Cites who is liable in case of default by either
  party
• Includes a way for either party to dissolve the
  agreement with or without cause.

Rick cleared his throat and offered, “The truth is all of us
have to stop looking at this sort of thing like a lawyer about to pounce and
sue. We are working with clients to help them. We know some things they don’t
and we are willing to put that knowledge to work for them. We want to work with
them and they want to work with us. All you have to do is talk frankly about
projects, expectations and work out differences before you write an agreement.

I always say that If it is important to the customer, put it
in. If not, leave it out.

If an agreement gets longer than a page it becomes a
contract and you need to get lawyers involved for that.”

What do you think?

After all that discussion about making a coming attractions video trailer for your your business I realized I had one on my consulting site. Here it is. How would you make it better?

Marketing Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com

Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com